On the recordMay 9, 2003
As a new Member of this 108th Congress, I recently traveled throughout the rural areas of North Carolina. I find that the people who sent me down to Washington, D.C. are hurting. We are losing manufacturing jobs. When I go into the farm community, our farmers are suffering. They have huge tractors that they do not need and they cannot pay for. They have built barns that cost $15,000 that they do not have any tobacco to put in them. I find that many of these same farmers have hired workers to take care of their crops. They no longer have an opportunity to pay these people who can then support their families. We are hurting in rural America. We need an opportunity to put some money in the pockets of people who will spend it and spur this economy, not this plan that is being sent by the majority.
Source
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